Two sisters…freed by verbs.

When to Bend: Reflecting on BEAR

So this post is coming about a week late but BEAR has been active in my life for quite some time.

I’m not sure exactly when the aches and pains in my lower back started, but a pinched nerve and compressed lumbar joint in my back made me, for the first time ever, seek the assistance of a chiropractor. To note — my parents have strong-held belief that chiros are a form of witch doctors who actually cause more harm than good. I don’t hold this belief but have always feared as soon as I start going to one, I’ll have to keep going forever because they’ll force me to realize exactly how shitty my body feels when it’s out of alignment.

But the pain was getting so bad that I had a hard time getting out of bed. The aches couldn’t be massaged or stretched away. I decided living with preventable chronic pain was kind of stupid.

My congenial chiropractor confirmed a lot of my suspicions. my lowest lumbar vertebra was tweaked backward and towards the left, likely causing my sciatic nerve to get pinned in areas it doesn’t usually sit. The muscles in my lower back were locked up because my back was so out of alignment.

The recommendation? Two or three sessions a week for the next few months. At $30 a pop, correcting my back was going to cost me nearly $1200 to fix.

Erm, no thank you. So after a few adjustments, already feeling improvement, I decided that I should just BEAR with the pain and figure out another, less expensive way to find comfort. Dedicate more time to stretching before bed. That kind of thing.

This lasted about three weeks and I caved. Or rather, I decided there was a choice point. Because my back got worse (again) and exactly as I predicted, I now knew relief going back was next to unbearable. This is obviously an issue that won’t fix itself. So I started going back — once a week. It may delay my treatment but it is also financially feasible, which was essential to me. If I’m going to do this, I’ll do it right, and just budget that expense into my budget.

This week, just like the daylight, we SAVE…

Steph is exploring the wilds of Scotland and enjoying a well deserved vacation.

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the vow venture

51 verbs in 52 weeks; this was our venture in 2017.

In 2018, we have opted for 12 verbs in 12 months.

We have also, once again, chosen a single verb for the entirety of the year, our #OneWord; Our goal is to spend the year reflecting and putting this verb into practice. In 2017, for Lin, it was EMBRACE; for Steph, it was BUILD.

In 2018, for Lin, it is EXPAND; for Stephanie, it is NARROW.

Completely unplanned, we chose antonyms (opposites) of each other for our words this year, so we decided to keep that theme in mind for the 12 verbs we would encounter in 2018. We randomly selected six verbs and then chose antonyms for them. For example, in January 2018, we will CHARGE; in February, we will FREEZE.

The purpose of the VOW Venture is simple and remains unchanged: to live more intentionally aided by our favorite part of speech.